The past 18-months have brought a reality to many businesses that they otherwise would have just continued to go with the flow and continue business as usual. In order to stay relevant and stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, many have had to pivot, and implementing a strategic marketing plan has been a key component to doing it successfully.
Before we were faced with a new reality, we were able to meet with people in person, socialize, and travel. Businesses were able to thrive with their normal routines. However, even after the world has opened back up, COVID numbers being on the rise again, has made many apprehensive to be in-person and therefore, has forced many businesses to continue to rely on digital marketing. Before the pandemic, many businesses did not rely on social media, email marketing, or being found on the internet. They thought word-of-mouth would be enough for “marketing” since as people gathered, the word about their business tended to spread. Emails and social media posting were just something that was done periodically and never had too much thought put into them. Now, many of us are relying heavily, if not solely, on the information we are seeking to come from the internet. This is where digital marketing has come into play, and it is making all the difference for businesses today by creating sales now and setting them up to be sustainable in the future. If you haven’t embraced digital marketing yet, here are a few things you should know.
What Are People Looking For?
Information. It’s plain and simple, don’t overthink it. How can you or your product solve a problem for them? How will it make them feel? When you’re putting information on your website, go into great detail and be specific. You could have a product or service that can solve many issues so break it down into the specific issue, and share how you solve each, one at a time. People don’t like to read between the lines so be direct. Also, too much information at one time can end up overwhelming and turn them away so make sure it’s easy to read by using numbers, bullets, and small paragraphs.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the process of planning, creating, distributing, sharing, and publishing content to reach your target audience. It can boost factors like brand awareness, interactions, sales, and loyalty. This takes time and effort to do it successfully so it requires patience. Original content makes all the difference so make sure you’re not just sharing the content of others. Use your content to educate your prospects, build relationships, create a sense of community, boost conversations and show your audience how your products and services solve their problems. Everyone is looking for something so answer their needs with what you offer.
What is Attraction Marketing?
Attraction marketing is a method by which you market your product or service by providing valuable information while customers are in the information-gathering stage of the buying process. By using the word “you” in your marketing, you are speaking directly to the consumer, you are building trust and your reputation as being a resource, and therefore one step closer to closing a sale because focusing on them attracts them to you.
What is Lead Generation?
This is a specific process that is put into place to attract and convert prospects that have expressed an interest in your product or service. An example of how to implement lead generation is, offers, aka downloads. A more simplified way to look at this is that you are warming up your potential customers by allowing them to get to know you and your business through content that they get in exchange for their email. You want to create a continuous flow of new prospects and potential customers so it’s important to plan out a continuous flow of offers.
Let’s face it, being in business is hard, time-consuming, and can often feel overwhelming. Marketing is one of those things that many businesses put on the back burner, especially if sales are being made because it changes rapidly and many don’t know how to do it correctly. Remember that you can easily hire someone to do it for you. When looking for a marketing company, look for ones that are skilled and/or certified in specific areas. They can help create an entire strategy for you and have you reaping the rewards that you are looking for from your marketing.